Superstar
by color the coast
Summary: Katie Brown and Freddy Jones sat in the hallway, shaking with fear. As the footsteps approached, they had no idea what lie ahead of them. All sense of security left when they were ripped from each other's grasp by a masked boy carrying a gun. CHAPTER 6 UP
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any of the characters from SOR, clearly. All outside characters are mine. Enjoy. **

Katie Brown placed her head against the window of her mother's car only to jump back from the cold feeling that made every inch of her shiver. She groaned while pulled her navy blue blazer tighter around her chilled body. The Horace Green Preparatory High School logo was covered by her arms that she had wrapped around herself.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Katie's mother asked with a note of concern

"What?" her daughter asked before the question registered in her mind, "Oh… yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little cold."

"Are you coming down with a fever?" her mother asked, with a hand outstretched turning the heat dial in the car to high.

"No. I'm fine, mom. I promise," Katie tried to reassure her mother, along with herself. Although the words came out they seemed to have no affect on her mind, which knew the truth. Her body felt awful, and every joint in Katie's body had an achy feeling that would not disappear. The pain only seemed to increase as she stepped out of the car and her feet hit the pavement. She waved goodbye to her mom before making her way towards the large building that stood in front of her.

While walking towards the school, she spotted her friend, Freddy Jones. He responded quickly to her shouts and began to walk back towards her. Finally, the two sixteen year olds were close enough to hear each other when talking.

"Hey, Katie," he said with a smile on his face, "You don't look too good."

"I know… I feel terrible. I didn't want to miss band practice though, so I figured I had to come to school," she informed her friend.

"You should have just stayed home and rested. Dewey wouldn't care," Freddy responded. Dewey had been their teacher in seventh grade. Actually, he wasn't really a teacher at all and after spending months in the classroom he nearly got arrested for impersonating one. He had pretended to be his roommate, Ned, and filled in for an injured teacher while teaching the prep students all about rock music. Eventually they entered a battle of the bands and got second place, proving to all the parents how much they had learned. Nobody was sure how Dewey had gotten out of being arrested, but they were glad. He had now opened a small business called "The School of Rock" and was teaching the new generation how to rock out. While doing all of this, he managed to maintain a relationship with the band he made out of class and they were still together, sharing the name of Dewey's business.

"Yeah, but my mom wouldn't let me," Katie said, referring to skipping school and then going to band practice.

"True. Well, today should be pretty low key. I don't expect excitement."

"Good," Katie began, "I don't think that I could handle it."

The two juniors walked into the school together before meeting up with the rest of their friends in the hallway. Everyone exchanged words with excitement before the bell for first period rang, but Katie just stood in silence wishing her throbbing headache would disappear. Eventually the warning bell rang, but nobody from the group seemed to move. They continued to talk until the school's principal walked by, telling them to get to class. The teenagers quickly began to make their way to class after being reprimanded as they were every morning. Although it had been several years since they had Dewey as a teacher, the class was still the same. At Horace Green you were with the same class until you graduated.

Despite the quickness in everyone's step, Katie walked slowly down the hallway being the last to enter the room of familiar faces. She slouched into her desk, placing her head into her arms, which she had folded in front of her. Throughout the first half hour of class Katie barely responded to anything or anyone around her. Feeling sick put her into a complete daze until finally she became extremely hot and began to sweat. Taking off a blazer, she was left only in a white short sleeved polo. Her peers stared at her, wondering why she was taking layers off in the middle of January. Freddy, who was sitting next to her, shot her a confused look as if to question what she was doing.

"I think my fever is breaking," she whispered, quiet enough so that the teacher would not hear her. Freddy gave her a goofy thumbs up before returning to the doodles that covered his notebook page. She just shook her head, laughing and finally beginning to feel better. When their teacher, Mrs. Wells, wrapped up her lesson and sent the students off to music class, Katie felt completely normal again. While walking in her group of friends, Katie made a comment about how she was glad the worst part of her day was over. The truth was that it was early in the day and as events unraveled this would prove to be one of the easiest parts of her day.

The unsuspecting students chatted and laughed all throughout the day, telling numerous jokes as the minutes passed by. Lunch came and went, after which the class went back to Mrs. Wells' room. At 1:00pm, all of the students in Horace Green would switch classes to go to their math teachers. The hallways were abuzz with noise as everyone moved to different classrooms, but everything would go silent with in two minutes.

Students in the high school either stood, frozen with fear, or ran for the nearest room as a gunshot erupted through the air.

**A/N: I know, not to exciting. I'm just trying to set up characters/events for the rest of the story. Ideas are welcome although I already have a general idea of where I'm going, I'll consider anything. Suggestions/constructive criticism are without a doubt welcome, even encouraged. Same for title ideas, since the story is not finished and I'm posting as I'm writing I'm at a loss for a title. Thanks for reading. --tlc**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I still don't own SOR... but I'd like to own Kevin Alexander Clark :)**

_**(last chapter) Students in the high school either stood, frozen with fear, or ran for the nearest room as a gunshot erupted through the air.**_

As the sound erupted through his ears, Freddy reacted by grabbing a hold of Katie's motionless body and dragging her towards the nearest classroom. By the time he reached the door and turned the handle, he realized it was locked and the blinds on the small window had been drawn.

"Damn it!" Freddy screamed, punching his fist against the door. When nobody inside the room reacted to his angry shouts, he lowered Katie to the floor in the small cubby that lay outside of the classroom. Positioning himself in front of her, Freddy promised to protect his best friend if anything happened. However, his courageous attitude was soon shattered and his own body began to shake with fear when the sound of footsteps grew closer. Trying to reassure himself that it didn't have to be a person with a gun, Freddy hear Katie's heavy breathing behind her.

A boy dressed in all black and wearing a black ski mask with hole only for his eyes and mouth appeared in front of them. Katie closed her eyes as hard as she could as if it would make everything around her disappear. When this didn't work, she simply rested her head, full of the worst possible thoughts, upon Freddy's back. She wondered how much he would really do to protect her. Before long her thoughts were interrupted by a taunting voice that came from above the two.

"Look what we've got here," the voice said as a menacing smile appeared through the hole in the ski mask, "I thought I heard someone yelling. Hasn't anyone ever taught you to use your indoor voice?"

Freddy scowled with anger at the person who stood before him. He wondered how anyone could possibly treat another person like this, holding them hostage with their own fear.

"What do you want?" Freddy asked the boy, trying to get out of the situation.

"What's you name?" he responded.

"I asked you first," Freddy said, almost demanding that he get a response to his important question.

"Yeah, well I've got this," the boy said pulling a gun out of his pocket, "So, what's your name?"

"Freddy, my name's Freddy," he said quickly, getting the words out as fast as he possibly could. He heard Katie let out a small squeal of terror from behind him as her hands tightened their grip on the back of his shirt.

"Good, good. And what do you like to do, Freddy?" the masked boy asked.

"What is this some kind of personality test?" Freddy responded with his usual attitude, almost forgetting that the boy was holding a gun in his right hand. He was shortly reminded when it was teasingly raised and polished in the boy's black shirt. Katie gave him a quick jab in the back before Freddy spoke again.

"I… I drum… for this band," he stammered with a note of fear filling his voice once again. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, hoping that his answer would satisfy the person that stood in front of him.

"Oh, well that's just great. We've got a superstar on our hands," the boy said with a mocking tone as he looked down on the quivering best friends.

"You, uh, never answered my question," Freddy let out, praying that this would not upset the gun-bearing teenager.

"I want your girl, superstar," he answered with a smirk.

Freddy's insides felt as if they had been automatically crushed when the words entered his ears. A sinking feeling permeated throughout his stomach as he glanced back at Katie. Remembering what he had told her just minutes earlier, Freddy began to shake his head. He reached his own hand back to take a hold of Katie's and squeezed it for strength. Finally he responded to what the masked boy had said.

"What if I say no?"

**A/N: I don't know why these are coming out so short, but I really wanted to stop with that line. Once again, please make suggestions, especially title because I really hate it right now. Thanks for reading, kids. --tlc**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own SOR. I do own creepy mask boy though.  
Warning: There's some pretty strong language towards the second half of this chapter. **

**_(last chapter)  
"I want your girl, superstar," he answered with a smirk.  
...  
"What if I say no?"_**

The boy in the mask simply stared at Freddy for a moment, shifting his eyes up and down the body that sat on the floor in front of him. After about thirty seconds, he began to nod before speaking.

"Are you offering up yourself instead?" he asked.

"Yes," Freddy responded immediately without any hesitation in his voice.

"Freddy? No," Katie whispered directly after he answered the masked boy's question. All that Freddy did, however, was hush his best friend. He knew in his mind that if somebody had to get hurt today, he was not going to let it be Katie. Before there was time for anymore discussion the teenager with the gun walked towards the two and roughly pulled Freddy to his feet.

Freddy could feel the tight grip that surrounded his arm as he was jerked up from the ground. Upon realizing the strength that this person held, he wondered if there was any chance he would make it through the day alive. Not only did the teenager have a gun, he was also much stronger. Although he was having extreme doubts about how things would turn out, Freddy did his best to remain calm on the outside. He quickly got irritated with the violence that he was being subjected to and jabbed his elbow into the boy's stomach. The boy's immediate reaction was to pull both hands towards his aching stomach and nurse himself for the pain he was receiving. Upon doing this, he released Freddy from his grip, but Freddy would not run, fearing that he would be shot. Instead he yelled to Katie, who was still sitting on the floor, curled up in the corner with her knees raised up towards her chest.

"Katie! Run!" Freddy shouted before he felt the same strong arm wrap around his neck. A cold object was placed against his temple and it was as if the boy was instantly healed from the blow to his stomach. He felt no weaker as he tightened his grip around Freddy's neck.

"Don't fucking move," he said slowly while annunciating each syllable of the sentence, "One step and he dies."

Katie, who had risen to her feet, stopped instantly as if she had been frozen in the position she was standing. She looked up to stare into Freddy's eyes. Although his breathing seemed completely normal compared to hers and his hands were no longer shaking, she could see the fear in his eyes. This scared Katie more than anything because she had never seen him scared before. He was always the confident one in their group of friends, willing to take risks and ready to try anything. Here he stood before her, gun at his head and heart pounding on the inside. Tears taunted the ridge of her eyelids before drops of water slowly slid down her cheeks. Her chest moved up and down with an intensity she had never known before. Directly in front of her she watched her best friend, who she thought could conquer the world, at the mercy of some angry teenager and this killed Katie on the inside.

"Just go," Freddy let out with the small amount of air he was receiving.

"I can't," she whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Quit being a goddamn hero and leave," Freddy said through a tight jaw after rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"And what, Freddy? And watch you die? You're my best friend and I'm not going anyway," she said as more tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.

"No. No, don't cry," he whispered back, "I'm sorry."

Katie wiped the tears from her cheeks before looking him directly in the eyes and mouthing the words: it's okay. After only seconds of silence, the boy began to laugh, lowering his gun, but keeping his arm around Freddy's neck.

"Well that was really nice," he said smiling, "Touching even. Now that you've both saved each other's lives, we've got some business to take care of. Hey, superstar?"

"Yeah?" Freddy responded obediently because he didn't want to do anything else to make this teenager angry.

"You know when you were being all suave, sticking up for your girl before?"

Freddy nodded, but Katie could see that he was becoming angry. She was glad that the boy could not see Freddy's eyes with the hold that he had on his neck. If he could read them half as well as Katie could, there was a chance that Freddy would not be alive right now.

"Yeah, well I don't really like being challenged," the boy spoke before unwrapping his hands from Freddy's neck and pushing him down towards the ground. Katie gasped as her best friend's body hit hard against the concrete floor. She could see him wincing with pain when he placed his hands down to push himself back up. This effort was quickly met by a hard kick to the stomach and Freddy doubled over instantaneously with pain.

"Stop it!" Katie screamed, wanting to help Freddy, but afraid that approaching him would only make things worse. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to escape the scene, but could not manage to block out the shouts and grunts escaping from her friend's mouth.

"Open your eyes," the boy yelled; pointing his gun at Katie, "He wanted this, so you can open your goddamn eyes and watch."

Her eyelids shot open just as soon as the teenager finished his first sentence. The gun was lowered for a second time and another kick was forced upon a weak Freddy.

"You like this kid?" the masked gunman asked Katie. She nodded right away, vigorously moving her head up and down.

"You'd do anything for him?" he asked and once again she nodded, "Oh really? Then how come you didn't try and help him. I'm standing here and beating up the kid and all you can do is fucking cry. You're just some stupid fake like everyone else in this world, aren't you? Telling everyone they can trust you and flaking out when it really matters, right? Just like everyone in this goddamn place."

This time Katie shook her head from side to side as if to say no. Suddenly the tears that she had wiped away minute before were back.

"You said one step and he dies," she choked out.

"Oh? You thought that rule was still in affect?" the boy taunted her.

He had manipulated Katie into slowly moving her left foot forward and placing it on the floor Freddy now lay upon. As soon as her foot hit the concrete, he was yanked off of it and onto his feet

"Gotcha, bitch," the boy laughed while pulling the gun once again up towards Freddy's temple as Katie's entire body went numb.

**A/N: So, I'm finally getting longer chapters and I'm pretty happy with them. Thanks to my reviewers! This update is for you guys. Please give any suggestions that you want. Thanks for reading. --tlc**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own SOR :(**

**_(last chapter) "Gotcha, bitch," the boy laughed while pulling the gun once again up towards Freddy's temple as Katie's entire body went numb._**

"What did you call her?" Freddy asked through clenched teeth as he drove his elbow into the boy's jaw. The mysterious teenager winced with pain before he dropped his gun and rested against the wall to keep his dizzy body steady. Freddy reacted to the situation quickly by shouting for Katie and taking off down the hallway. They were not fast enough, however, to avoid the angry shots produced by a flailing arm. The masked boy had retrieved the gun from the ground and was shooting it haphazardly in all directions.

"You can't run forever," he shouted after them as he raised the gun more carefully and took one more shot. Freddy's shout echoed through the nearly empty hallway as the bullet pierced into his skin. He clumsily stumbled to the ground, not able to hold his own weight up and fight against the pain that surged through him. Katie shrieked as she saw the blood pour from her best friend's numb body that lay on the cold ground.

"Freddy!" she cried, outstretching her hands toward him while she lowered herself to the ground beside him. She looked up with a mixture of mascara and tears staining her beautiful face. Standing right before her was the cold hearted boy that had possibly just killed her friend. His eyes did not show panic or remorse, instead they simply showed indifference. He stared right back at her for a few seconds before placing his gun upon the ground and kicking in her direction.

"You'll have more use for this than I will after your superstar dies," he told her with a piercing voice that sent chills down Katie's spine. She stared at the gun while the boy's buckled boots produced a haunting sound with each step he took away from her.

"Don't you dare touch that," Freddy whispered to his friend as he fought to keep his eyes open and show the small amount of life that still sparked within him.

"Don't you dare leave me," she whispered back before squeezing his hand tightly and promising to find help. She sat for a moment, trying to figure out what to do, watching Freddy's long breaths become more and more shallow. Before she had the time to react she heard another set of footsteps coming down the hallway. She prayed with all her might that it was nobody dangerous this time.

"Help!" she immediately yelled with her loudest voice, "My friend's been shot! Please help!"

The seconds between these shouts and the response that Katie got made it seem like an eternity had passed. She placed her shaking hand upon Freddy's forehead and stroked his dirty blonde hair.

"Come on, Freddy. Stay with me, love. People are coming," she assured him as the footsteps grew closer, "Stay with me, darling."

Finally two older men, who appeared to be in their forties or fifties, appeared in front of them dressed in full police uniform. A sigh of relief escaped from Katie's lips and she pleaded for their help.

"Be calm. We have EMTs coming in right now. They're going to help your friend," the first cop with graying brown hair promised her.

"Hear that?" she asked Freddy quietly, "We're not letting you go anywhere."

A slight smile seemed to appear on his face, but it quickly disappeared. His eyes darted back in forth in a frenzy of panic before he settled for looking directly at Katie. He didn't say a word, but it was clear to her that Freddy was worried about something.

"What's wrong, Freddy?" she asked him, concerned.

"My… my legs," he told her quietly, but Katie did not seem to understand. She looked over towards his two legs that lay sprawled across the cement floor. They weren't in any particular position, but she didn't see any problem with them.

"What? They're fine. What about them?" she asked again.

"I can't… they won't… they won't move," he finally spat out with a look of struggle upon his face.

**A/N: Sorry about not updating in FOREVER. I've actually had this chapter for awhile, but it hasn't been letting me upload files for some reason. Well, it's hear now and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to last chapters reviewers and all that have been reading this story: much love. --tlc**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from SOR.**

_**(last chapter) "I can't… they** (his legs) **won't… they won't move," he finally spat out with a look of struggle upon his face.**_

Katie's looked away before closing her eyes and taking a hold of Freddy's hand. She kindly hushed him and squeezed his hand tightly. She opened her eyes to see the EMTs rushing down the hallway with a stretcher standing up on wheeled legs. They took the top off and placed it on the floor next to Freddy. Trying to move the teenager as little as possible, they carefully shifted him onto the stretcher. Every inch of movement was met with looks of anguish and shouts from Freddy. Each sign of pain he showed made Katie wince with fear until he finally lay peacefully on the stretcher. Still in immense amounts of pain, he wavered in and out of conciousness while trying to look over at his friend.

"Don't try and move. I'll get to the hospital as soon as I can," she promised while watching Freddy be wheeled away down the hallway as the men around him did their best to keep him awake.

Katie slowly inched backwards, taking tiny steps towards the wall that was behind her. When she finally reached it, she let her body sink to the floor while she buried her face in her arms. Her shaking hands would not seem to wipe the tears that flowed from her eyes. In front of a hurting Freddy she did her best to be strong, but now that he had been taken away she had no reason to hide her true feelings.

The soft touch of a hand upon her shoulder caused Katie to jump with fear. She looked up only to see the police officer that had talked to her minutes before and let out a sigh of relief. Every sound and feeling was causing her to panic and she couldn't help but constantly shift her eyes around the hallway, as if she was searching for the masked boy that stood before her and Freddy not long before.

"We're sorry about your friend and hope he makes a full recovery," the police officer told her quietly while helping her off the floor, "You're going to have to come in to answer some questions. You know that, right?"  
Katie simply nodded in response. She didn't want to go in and answer any questions. She didn't want to have to relive the fright she had just experienced. All that she wanted to do was make sure that her best friend was okay and see him come out of the hospital. Instead she was forced to go to police stations where she had to face questions which corresponded with many tears. By the time she was able to leave the station and get to the hospital, it was already 7:00 at night.

Katie made her way up to room 528 where Freddy was. She took a deep breath as she saw the room in the distance, working up the courage to approach the room and see her wounded friend. She peaked in the room only to find out that he was sleeping, but decided to still enter. She sat in the chair next to him simply stroking his hair for about five minutes before he woke up. His eyes opened, but closed quickly while he winced in pain. He finally opened them up again before smiling at his best friend who sat in the chair next to his bed.

"Hey," she let out quietly, staring into his blue eyes and trying not to cry. He didn't answer her with words, but simply smiled back.

"How bad is it?" Katie spoke again, but this time shifted her eyes towards the window on the other side of the room. She let her vision blur into the bright lights of the city that was outside of the hospital, seeing a mess of colors instead of any shapes. "Probably paralyzed from the waist down. Doctor doubts I'll walk again," he answered her honestly just as she had asked for.

Katie closed her eyes as tightly as she could; trying her best to hold back the tears that wanted so badly to escape her eyes. Finally she could hold them back no longer, and they slowly rolled down her cheeks as she moved quickly to wipe them away.

"What?" Freddy asked her, "Why are you crying?"

"This… this should have been me, Freddy," she let out, motioning to him laying in the hospital bed, "That kid asked for me."

"No. Don't say that, Katie. I'd rather lay in this bed hurting like crazy knowing I can never move my legs again than have to watch you go through that. I don't even want to picture you like that," he confided.

Time passed quickly as the two chatted about everything that was on there minds. When it grew silent for a moment Katie was the first to speak, but only in a low whisper.

"I didn't know you got scared," she told Freddy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"When that boy was there with the gun it was the first time I've ever seen you scared. I think that's what's driving me crazy. I mean, you're the most confident person I know. It's scared me more than anything to see you scared?" she told him.

"I wasn't scared," Freddy said confidently with the smirk finally returning to his face.

**A/N: Ahh! This took forever to get up. Sorry. I've been really busy with cheerleading, but I promise I'll try to start updating more. Thanks for all the reviews, I love them! Keep them coming along with any suggestions for the plot. --tlc**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from SOR.**

**_(last chapter): "I wasn't scared," Freddy said confidently with the smirk finally returning to his face._**

Katie stayed out of school for the rest of the week. She visited Freddy several times after the shooting on Tuesday, but refused to return to Horace Green until he was there with her. The thought of being within those halls again worried her. The last memory she had of it was seeing Freddy on the ground. She couldn't face being there alone, so she finally went back the next Monday when he was able to go too.

Although they were both returning to high school that day, she walked into the school before Freddy did. Katie did not attempt to make eye contact with one person in the building; instead she walked straight to her locker as fast as she could. When she was hunched over retrieving books, Katie felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Frightened, she jolted around while letting out a small scream. She was now facing Freddy, sitting in a wheelchair with both legs hanging limply in front of him.

"I'm sorry," he told her, "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, I'm just jumpy," she said while trying to obtain a normal breathing pattern.

Katie went back into her locker to pile a few more books in her bag. She then faced Freddy to let out an enormous sigh.

"How are you?" he asked sincerely.

"Scared to death," she replied.

Without another word the two took off to go to class. They faced the stares of all their peers as they made they're way down the hallway. Katie tried her best to focus on her moving feet instead of the glares that watched her intently. She turned to look at Freddy who was pumping his arms to wheel himself down the hallway along side of her. Katie simply rolled her eyes in regard to the people surrounding them and they continued down the hallway until reaching their destination.

"You're back!" Mrs. Wells exclaimed with a friendly wave, "I've cleared a spot for you in the front Freddy."

"I think I'll just go to my normal spot," he told her while trying to fit between the two rows of desks to get to his regular area in the back of the room.

"Oh, well it might just be easier if—" the teacher started.

"I'll just go to my normal spot," Freddy repeated while cutting her off.

He pushed hard on the wheels, forcing his way through, but still getting caught every few seconds before finally reaching the second to last row. He sat still for a second, breathing deeply. His heaving chest was a clear sign that it took a lot of effort to make it this far back in the room. Eventually he had regained enough strength to push forcefully on the desk he normally sat in. He tried to use the top to pull himself into the attached chair, but it was difficult to maneuver without the use of his legs.

"You want some help Freddy?" Katie whispered seeing him have trouble.

As she said this a loud eruption of sound rang throughout the school and the warning bell had sounded.

"Damn it," Freddy mumbled under his breath, not wanted the rest of his class to see him struggle when they entered the room.

Noticing the panic in his eyes, Katie walked over and let Freddy brace himself on her so that he could make it to his chair. He looked angry the entire time not wanting to accept the help that he was being given. Freddy was extremely annoyed when people started coming into the classroom to see the situation. He didn't want to be anyone's charity case.  
"Freddy!" his best friend, Zack, yelled from across the room, "You didn't tell me you were coming back today, man."

"Surprise," Freddy responded sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and so angry too," Zack mumbled.

Freddy just gave his friend a dirty look before shifting his eyes towards the front of the room. If it wasn't for his mom making him, he would be in school today. The truth was that he was still in immense amounts of pain and didn't feel like dealing with anyone today, even his good friends.

After coping with class for half the day, it was finally time for the students to go to lunch. Half the class left the room by the time Freddy was ready to maneuver himself back into the wheelchair. He pushed it back so it was just a bit behind his desk chair, but after doing this he couldn't figure out where to place his hands. He once again struggled to move from one place to another. His friends who had stayed in the room stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

Eventually Summer Hathaway made a move by taking a few steps towards him and putting out her arms. When he didn't react to this she took another step forward and grabbed a hold of his arms. This caused Freddy to pull back with anger.

"I don't need anyone's help," he grumbled as walked backwards, shying away.

"Come on, Freddy. We just want to make things easier," Zack explained.

"I'm not anybody's charity case," Freddy squeezed through clenched teeth.

"Nobody said that, Freddy," Marta tried to calm him.

"Then quit acting like it. I can do everything just the same, so quit treating me like I'm some sort of messed up cripple!" he shouted.

"Why don't you quit being so proud? We're just friends trying to give you a hand. Yeah, bad stuff happened, but you don't have to be a jerk," Alicia spoke her mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We're you held at gunpoint?" Freddy said sharply.

"I thought you didn't want us to feel bad," she shot back while turning around to walk out of the room to have the others follow her.

"Bitch," Freddy mumbled under his breath before looking up to see that the only person left in the room was Katie.

"You didn't have to be so mean to her," Katie whispered.

"Oh, come on. Not you too," Freddy said as she walked towards him.

"I'm just saying you can't do everything all the time now. It's not bad to get a little help now and then," she said while reaching out to help move him into the wheelchair.

The rest of the day was spent in near silence among the group of friends, but at the end of the day they still met outside before band practice. Each day they met to walk up to Dewey's apartment for practice and today was the same. The only difference was that Freddy would not be walking; instead he pushed himself alongside of the rest of the group until he got tried. Then Zack or Lawrence would step behind him to push for a while.

"Wait a minute," Tomika said, "Where is Summer?"

"She told me that she'd meet us up there," Marta started, "She left a few minutes early to go up I think."

When they made it to Dewey's apartment the group of teenagers entered without knocking. Inside Summer sat at the kitchen table talking to Dewey, but jumped up quickly when everyone walked in.

"Hey everyone, I want you to meet Trey," she motioned to a boy sitting in the corner of the room.

"He's, uh, sitting at my drum set?" Freddy asked.

The look of confusion on his face scared Summer. She didn't realized that Freddy would still be drumming for the band.

"Oh, Freddy. I just… I just," Summer stuttered.

"Just figured I couldn't do this either?" Freddy spat out before wheeling towards the door and letting himself out.

**A/N: I feel like a jerk for never updating! I'm sorry I've been so busy and I promise that no matter how long it takes this story will get finished. I really love writing it. Thanks to everyone who is still reading it even if I only update like once a month. Also, thanks to everyone that has left reviews because they really are motivating. Especially with people saying they've cried and all that. It's cool to know that my writing can provoke such strong emotions. imjustagirl0077: Sorry about the eye color mistake. I'm going to keep it the same for this story, but thanks for pointing it out. Send any other ideas and comments everyone. Thanks again, loves. –tlc**


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